Chapter 130: The Perpetual Motion Machine and the Soul World, Evading Death and Eternity
The vast majority of Symbiotes chose to submit. Only a very small number, unwilling to lose their freedom, scattered madly in all directions.
Du Wa expressed understanding for this small contingent of Symbiotes that refused to surrender, even praising their noble integrity for not bowing to a powerful god. He then ordered all Xenomorphs to kill on sight any that were not under his command.
"At the very least, millions, if not tens of millions, of Symbiotes have fled. And that's not even counting the scattered ones elsewhere in the universe. If we were to hunt them down across the entire universe, it would expend a great deal of our military force, wouldn't it?" Moira asked, puzzled.
Du Wa showed great patience toward Moira. "The vast majority of Symbiotes belong to a just faction. They pursue noble qualities like kindness, bravery, and sacrifice, which is why they were unwilling to accept Knull's command and betrayed him. But there is also a very small minority of Symbiotes with evil carved into their very bones, who will not pass up any opportunity for slaughter and destruction."
Du Wa extended his gaze, watching the Symbiotes fleeing for their lives in the void. "I cannot confirm what kind of creatures these Symbiotes who rejected me are. But since they refused me, they must be prepared to bear the price. I will assume they are evil Symbiotes and eliminate them."
More importantly, the Alien Legion wouldn't need to expend energy chasing these Symbiotes across the cosmos, because these fugitives had no way of escaping the World Tree.
There was only one supreme true god of the World Tree, and that was Du Wa.
A terrifying divine power surged once more, easily shaking the Nine Realms and rattling countless stars.
Wherever the frenzied chains of divine power swept, all Symbiotes were utterly annihilated.
At that moment, it was too late even for any Symbiote that turned back to immediately pledge allegiance to Du Wa anew; they were all killed by Du Wa.
This left the Symbiotes who had sided with Du Wa from the very beginning utterly terrified.
But after doing this, the vast divine power on Du Wa's body began to show signs of dissipating.
Du Wa refused to acknowledge the identity of the God of the World Tree; he had only used the divine power supplied by the Shadow Gods as a temporary measure.
The deities who were closely watching Du Wa's every move immediately noticed his rapid weakening.
"What… What is he doing? Voluntarily stripping away the World Tree's divine power? Forsaking the rank of a deity?"
"Has he gone mad? He just defeated a powerful enemy and established his position in the entire universe, only to voluntarily demote himself? It's as if he's afraid his enemies won't come knocking."
"There's another possibility. He's doing it on purpose, waiting for another Cosmic God to lose their patience and attack so he can take the opportunity to finish off another one…"
"Hmm, perhaps there's a problem with the power obtained from the World Tree. I don't know what Knull discovered, but there must be a reason why Du Wa could become an unprecedented World Tree deity in one fell swoop."
Countless gazes stared intently. The beings at the apex of the universe all wanted to see what was going on with Du Wa, who had leaped to the rank of a Cosmic God. Was his act of voluntarily relinquishing divine power forced upon him by some unknown price, or was there another reason?
If Du Wa was truly forced to lose his divine power and fall from the single-universe-level rank, it might give some mad Cosmic Gods an opportunity to exploit his weakness.
Everyone was interested in Du Wa, and also in the Xenomorphs—especially the one that had sealed Knull. Even a god was willing to explore the unknown.
But the ones who were truly the most thrilled, the most excited, were undoubtedly the Shadow Gods.
This group was truly overjoyed, showering praise on Du Wa's noble character, thinking he was simply magnificent.
He took the World Tree's divine power they had given him, bravely stood up to repel Knull and save the World Tree, and then proudly relinquished that power after dealing with the powerful enemy.
"Du Wa's character is so pure! That makes sense. He was so uncompromising when he spoke with us before because he never intended to possess this divine power for himself; he was truly just borrowing it."
"I was originally worried that after taking our power to deal with Knull, not only would he refuse to return it, but he would also turn around and use it against us to seize control of the World Tree. It turns out we were overthinking it."
"Although what he did was a bit foolish, I have to admit, it's the most favorable outcome for us."
This bunch of Shadow Gods praised Du Wa effusively, eagerly watching as he stripped the endless divine power from his body, hoping to see him toss it all to them like garbage.
But Du Wa did not do so.
He stripped it away, yet not completely, still holding it tightly in his grasp. He even summoned one of his subordinates.
The Female Thor, Jane Foster.
This Female Thor, wielding the hammer of Thor, wore a look of utter adoration and was thrilled beyond measure.
Standing before her was a god, a deity who had reached the pinnacle of the universe and wielded its rules. The great power that could affect countless galaxies and destroy space-time at a whim was simply dazzling.
If Foster were still just a mortal, while she would still admire Du Wa, she would have no clear concept of just how strong he was. It was precisely because she had become the Female Thor, a thunder god who existed within the World Tree system, that she could better comprehend how immensely powerful Du Wa was.
Foster could even claim that she had watched with her own eyes how Du Wa became a Cosmic God, step by step.
"What do you need me to do?"
Jane Foster glanced quickly at Du Wa, who was bathed in endless divine light, then swiftly lowered her head and spoke respectfully.
"Foster, among all my subordinates who walk the path of divine power, you are the furthest along. From now on, you are a true god. I will give you a portion of the World Tree's authority."
"Ah, this… You're giving the power you wield to me? Then wouldn't you..."
"Don't worry about me. I can also use the power you possess, but the reverse is not true; you can't necessarily wield the power I have at any time. My strength has never resided in any single type of power."
The divine light all over Du Wa's body was fading bit by bit, making him seem like an ordinary human again. But even the top-tier deities of the universe were clearly aware of the terrifying wisdom and power hidden within his body. Even if he wasn't a Cosmic God, he was not someone any Cosmic God could underestimate.
"Besides, you underestimate me. I don't care about this kind of external power, much less would I consider it my core power for survival."
What did it feel like to become a Cosmic Celestial? Du Wa himself would admit it was intoxicating. The level where one could interpret hundreds of millions of pieces of information in an instant and see through infinite worlds was truly mesmerizing.
To step into the single-universe level, to match the entire universe with one's own body—one can only imagine how terrifying the implications were.
But Du Wa wouldn't get lost in it. He had greater goals, higher ambitions. Even the readily attainable rank of a Cosmic Celestial was something Du Wa could strip away and use on a certain Xenomorph. When the need arose, he could simply dispatch this Xenomorph that carried the power to battle, or he could just use a spirit-wandering technique to transfer his soul and take over its body to fight.
After all, it was single-universe-level power. He could do without it, but he couldn't waste it, and he certainly wouldn't hand it over to treacherous individuals.
The Divine Power Troops led by Jane Foster had always been thoroughly suppressed by the Superman Corps led by Reynolds. Now, that would no longer be a concern.
Foster, the Laufey Xenomorph, Skurge… if these individuals who wielded the divine power of the World Tree could enjoy the authority of divine power given by Du Wa, it would be an explosive boost for them, allowing them to instantly step into a whole new domain.
"This is the best outcome. If any other reckless fools pop up, I can concentrate all of their power onto myself and use it... As long as I wish it, I can be a Cosmic God at any time. As for someone attempting a decapitation tactic, a direct assault on my main body…"
Du Wa shook his head and chuckled; he wasn't afraid of being decapitated.
Whatever the Xenomorphs possessed, no matter what it was, the ultimate ownership would always belong to Du Wa.
But the Shadow Gods were left dumbfounded. They had been full of anticipation, never imagining Du Wa would pull a feint. It seemed like he had relinquished the power, yet it also seemed like he hadn't relinquished it at all. The power Du Wa didn't want, he simply passed on to his subordinates, not returning a single bit to them.
"Du Wa, it was we who lent you this power."
"This is the authority of the World Tree, not your personal property. You should return it to us."
The Shadow Gods didn't give up and tried to salvage the situation.
But Du Wa responded with a look of bewilderment, "Power? What power?"
"The divine power we lent you."
"What divine power? That's Foster's power, and also the power of the many Xenomorphs under my command who walk the path of divine power. What does it have to do with you? Why should I return the payment I earned through my own ability?"
The Shadow Gods fell silent. Du Wa refused to return it, and there was nothing they could do. After all, they could no longer pool their power to create another single-universe-level deity. Even if they could, it wouldn't necessarily be able to defeat Du Wa. The worst-case scenario was being killed in a counterattack by Du Wa and turned into a Xenomorph on the spot.
The massive figures in the Shadow distorted, able only to watch helplessly as Du Wa's subordinates, led by Foster, unscrupulously carved up the divine power that had originally belonged to them, yet they could do nothing.
"Asgard is about to face Ragnarok. You should be the one to push forward Asgard's apocalypse; this is your mission." A god from within the Shadow tried to pull Du Wa into their faction.
But Du Wa couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind.
Ragnarok? So what if Du Wa could devour all the doomsday energy unleashed by it? He merely assessed the meager profit and was instantly too lazy to bother with such a tedious task.
The hearts of the Shadow Gods were bleeding. The Shadow seethed, but it eventually subsided.
Besides Du Wa, no one else knew of the existence of these Shadow Gods.
As for the coming Ragnarok, whatever methods this group of Shadow Gods would use to advance it was not a problem Du Wa needed to worry about.
The entire World Tree gradually quieted down.
The God Race Army of world after world began to return to their respective realms, not daring to step out and attract Du Wa's attention at this critical juncture.
"What an interesting fellow. He refuses to be the God of the World Tree? It must be because he has grasped a stronger, more reliable path." Queen Sindr watched Du Wa's departing figure with her flame-like eyes, gazing at the countless Symbiotes following him away like a tide.
For such a figure to have originated from Midgard, a world dominated by mortals, was truly strange. Nothing like this had ever happened on the World Tree before.
But at least one thing was certain: from now on, there was a ruthless figure within the World Tree who was countless times more brutal than the Odin of old. As long as Du Wa wished it, he could destroy a person and their world together.
…
Earth.
Du Wa returned to his residence. The commotions of the outside world, the streams of consciousness communicating across the universe, were not enough to capture his attention.
"Well then, it seems we can finally have a serious talk, the evil god Knull… In the entire universe, I am likely the only one still willing to call you a god." Du Wa closed his eyes, sensing the stirrings in the Abyssal Realm.
Under Moira's mechanism, Knull was trapped in endless cycles, seething with impotent rage. He still hadn't found a way to escape and was completely imprisoned.
"How much time has passed outside? Bastard, this damn place doesn't even have a concept of time! Everything keeps rebooting!!"
"Don't be angry. At least your cognition and memory have not been rebooted. You can thank your status as a Cosmic God for that. Then again, if you weren't a Cosmic God, you wouldn't have been worthy of me sending Moira to take you out."
A single-universe-level deity, of course, wouldn't be easily controlled by a power that could affect an entire universe. But escape was also impossible. If even the universe could be affected, how could a Cosmic God, who was equivalent to a universe, not be affected.
Du Wa looked at the struggling Knull. "Calculated by the universe's Reality Dimension, only a few minutes have passed since your defeat and sealing. I've given you this much 'freedom.' Now, I need you to make a contribution to me."
Du Wa began to act. Using a massive cluster of consciousness, he completely occupied the entire Abyssal Dimension, ensuring that not even the most remote corner could escape his influence.
As for Knull? Let him continue to cycle endlessly within Moira's unbeatable mechanism.
"Is this why you captured me? To turn my Abyss into your Soul World?" Knull roared, his memories intact after yet another reboot.
"Rest assured, there will be a place for you here. You will serve as an object of fusion for the Abyss, sinking into eternal suffering. Even countless years from now, my servants will be able to hear your curses and screams. It will be the best seasoning."
From the perspective of his consciousness, Du Wa watched the countless Xenomorphs scattered throughout the Abyss.
Not just the living Xenomorphs, but even the traces left behind by those who had already died began to slowly revive in this world, now firmly under Du Wa's control.
Dead, yet able to live again, bypassing Death, evading Eternity itself.
(end of chapter)